Movie star Sylvester Stallone is suing an Arab-American contractor born in Nazareth for alleged shoddy work. Contractor Mohamed Hadid, a wildly successful businessman, fled Israel with his family during the War of Independence and is now among those who would be termed “Palestinian refugees” - except he settled in another country rather than staying in a refugee camp.

Stallone has slammed Hadid as “an incompetent con man” in his complaint to court. He claims Hadid cost him more than $1 million through fraud.

Among other things, Stallone has accused Hadid of using shoddy materials and of installing “unsafe and incomplete” ventilation systems and electric wiring. Hadid promised to do work that he was not actually qualified to do, the actor has accused.

Hadid grew up in Syria, Lebanon and the United States. He has previously credited his background in part for his success, saying, “The Palestinians are like the Jews. Everything was taken away from them. So they try to become better businessmen to free themselves from the stereotype and build a new life.”

In a recent interview with Kalkalist, Hadid proposed using construction to solve the Israeli-Arab conflict. “I don’t believe there’s a need to uproot the settlements,” he said. “Instead of uprooting settlers from their land and their homes and creating more hate, build another 7,000 homes and give them to Palestinians."

“Like all young people, [Palestinians] are looking for security, a roof over the heads, work, a school for their children, freedom… Take the money that was given to the World Bank and to Arafat and build cities,” he proposed.